The United States Senate has unanimously passed legislation banning discrimination on the basis of people’s genetic details. The proposal, which passed 95-0, still needs approval from the House of Representatives before it becomes law. It would allow only patients and their doctors to access data obtained through genetic testing. Employers, unions and health insurance companies would be forbidden from discrimination via genetic information. The Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy called it the ‘the first new civil rights bill of the new century’. He added: ‘Discrimination based on a person’s genetic identity is just as unacceptable as discrimination on the basis of race or religion.’ The bill would forbid health insurers from refusing coverage, or raising premiums, for healthy people based on genetic information. Insurers would also not be allowed to require people to take tests which might show a predisposition to a disease. And employers would be prohibited from using genetic information in decisions over hiring, firing, promoting or compensating employees. Genome mapping The bill is supported by the White House and by health insurers, but opposed by some business interests, including the US Chamber of Commerce. Scientists hope the […]